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Xander, I probably don't have quite enough information on your working method to "re-invent" it in oils, so please bear with me.
Steps: As noted above, acrylic gesso may not be the best prime under an oil painting, but thinly applied, has proven workable. You can lay-in a rudimentary drawing with vine charcoal, so long as not a lot is deposited on the canvas, which can be fixed with a re-touch varnish, either damar or copal. Damar will be possibly re-soluble in subsequent layers, so that may be a factor, depending on your handing. You can also isolate a charcoal drawing with shellac, insoluble in oil and turps. Of course, there's no problem simply beginning the painting by drawing with a brush to establish initial shapes and placement.
Your next step, that of "washes" depends on whether you are speaking of toning the canvas or establishing fields of local color. If you are toning the canvas, one approach is simply to apply a tone, rubbed into the canvas and allowed to dry before you begin working. The desired tonal color mixed with a bit of medium and a little turps is a good way to go; the color will appear warmer scuffed onto a white ground than opaquely lightened up with white. Ancillary to this approach is the "rub-out", i.e., toning the canvas as desired, and then picking out the lightest values using a rag moistened with turps, fingers, Q-tips, whatever. Many painters establish a very finished initial layer in this manner before proceeding to add deeper values and color.
If your intention in the first rub-in is to establish values and local color, it is better to use full-bodied paint, little or no medium, and work the paint well into the ground with a brights, using a wee bit of oil and turps if some lubrication/thinning is desired. It is not adviseable to extend paint to a "wash" consistency with MS, turps, or either in combination with oil.
Must you insist on using alkyds? Your outline indicates a layered approach, and using alkyds results in delamination between layers. There is simply no compelling advantage for choosing alkyd paints over good oil paint and traditional resins and vehicles. If economics is a factor, two "iron laws" apply: 1. All painters literally throw away two or more times the amount of paint they actually apply to pictures. It's the nature of the trade. 2. No one ever became wealthy by saving on the cost of paint.
Again, if you desire a juicy lustre to visible strokes in the finished painting, I recommend Maroger's medium. If you want a flat, enamelled look to your pieces, no impasto, use stand-oil and a resin in the final layers. Lastly, scarecely any method of applying paint results in a lustrous, unified finished surface. Such a "look" is accomplished after the painting is completed by oiling out sunk-in or dry areas, and/or the application of a suitable final varnish.
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Hybrid Mode
